Commodore User (CU Amiga)
See here for a front cover gallery. Commodore User, known to the readers as the abbreviated CU, was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. A publishing history spanning over 15 years, mixing content with technical and games features. Incorporating Vic Computing in 1983 by publishers EMAP, the magazine's focus moved to the emerging Commodore 64, before introducing Amiga coverage in 1986, paving the way for Amiga's dominance and a title change to CU Amiga in 1990. Covering the 16-bit computer, the magazine continued for another eight years until the last issue was published in October 1998 when EMAP opted to close the magazine due to falling sales and a change in focus for EMAP. History Carrying on from where Vic Computing left, Commodore User was launched in September 1983. Initially the magazine contained what was referred to as the serious side of computing, with programming tutorials, machine code features and business software reviews. The first issues were produced and written by a small team, consisting of editor Dennis Jarrett, a writer (future editor Bohdan Buciak) and editorial assistant Nicky Chapman. Features were written by a range of contributors. Rapidly the issue sizes grew from 64 to 96 pages. In 1986 CU began to cover the new 16-bit computer; the Amiga. The magazine was an all time high, covering all the Commodore platforms, from the C16, all the way up to the Amiga. Circulation figures were also showing an all time high of over 70,000 for the 1988 period. To establish that the magazine content was changing to cover the emerging Amiga, the magazine changed its title CU Commodore User Amiga-64, with the emphasis on the CU part. The Commodore User part was quickly dropped and the name remained CU Amiga-64. This period of the magazine was seen as a transitional time between transferring coverage from C64 to the Amiga. Realising that the C64 market was in an undeniable decline in 1990, CU made the decision to concentrate fully on the Amiga, dropping C64 coverage and relaunched their redesigned magazine as CU Amiga. The magazine, eventually, gained increased circulation as a result of the changes. By 1994, it was obvious that the Amiga's popularity was in decline. CU Amiga had a final name change to help distinguish itself from other competing magazines in an increasingly small market, it became CU Amiga Magazine. In its remaining years under the control of editor Tony Horgan, the magazine became highly technical but also gained a professional edge. The final issue featured a memorable upside down cover with a foot imprinting on the logo, intended to be reminiscent of the imagery used by Monty Python. The magazine came to an end without the preceding page, staff or quality cuts that had afflicted some other Amiga magazines. CU Amiga Magazine's closure meant that the only remaining monthly Amiga newsstand magazine was its closest rival, Amiga Format. A year after CU's closure, in October 1999, the magazine Amiga Active was launched, which had several of the same staff and was competition for Amiga Format, which it ultimately outlived. Staff ;Editors Dennis Jarrett (Oct 83-Aug 84) Bohdan Buciak (Sep 84-Nov 84) Eugene Lacey (Dec 84-Jan 88) Mike Pattenden (Jan 88-Feb 90) Steve James (Mar 90-Mar 92) Dan Slingsby (Apr 92-Feb 94) Alan Dykes (Apr 94-Nov 96) Tony Horgan (Dec 96-Oct 98) Writers Please see here for a list of writers who are credited with writing articles or reviews in Commodore User / CU Amiga. Stats 'Circulation Figures' 'Reviews' See here for a list of reviews from this magazine. For the purposes of the Average Score, the Interest score will be used until Commodore User started to use an overall score. Interest score denoted with a *. 'Other Info' * Assumption Issues Category:Magazines launched in 1983 Category:EMAP magazines Category:Commodore magazines